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To know more about Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews, check out their blog or see what they are up to on Twitter (@Sinfully_MMBlog). Their ongoing triumph is running Sinfully Gay Romance, a review site dedicated to bringing you the best in reviews, news, new releases & more in all things LGBTQ Romance. Sinfully Gay Romance can also be found on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram.

1) Is there any one thing you simply can’t travel without?

Well, the first thought that comes to mind is clothes (haha) but if we’re talking gadgets then as an avid reader, it’s got to be my preciousssssssss Kindle: “Sophie”, named in memory of my favourite fur baby who is now sadly in pussy cat heaven. Holidays, car journeys, shopping, doctors, dentist…the loo…where I go, she goes.

2) White water rafting or lake pontoon float?

I’ll go for the less turbulent lake pontoon float… White water rafting sounds exciting but I don’t think they do life jackets for Kindles do they? *Grins*

3) Around the house: fresh cut flowers in vases or tons of potted plants?

Oh definitely fresh cut, although I much prefer to see flowers thriving in their natural habitat. Unfortunately when it comes to anything growing in soil, my thumbs are more ‘black death’ (*gulp*) than the proverbial green so I tend to admire potted plants from afar…and I mean afar! Too close and I can wilt a plant just by breathing on it!

4) What is your favorite word?

Actually I have two—Harrumph and Pshaw! Lol, granted you don’t see them used much, and I’ve yet to hear anybody actually utter those exact words, but somehow when you see them written down in the right context, they do seem to perfectly express what they’re meant to portray. Personally I don’t think we Harrumph or Pshaw enough nowadays! 😉

5) If you had unlimited access to any ancient monument, where would you explore?

Definitely somewhere mystical and spiritual like Stonehenge. I can only imagine how amazing it must feel, visiting and exploring somewhere so ancient. Steeped in mythology and lore, the atmosphere must be palpable in a place as mysterious as that. Although knowing my luck I’d probably anger the spirits of the Druids and end up unleashing the pagan god of a thousand pustulating pimples! So perhaps not! Disneyland’s been around a long time hasn’t it? Perhaps I’d be safer exploring there! Lol.

To know more about Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews, check out their blog or see what they are up to on Twitter (@Sinfully_MMBlog). Their ongoing triumph is running Sinfully Gay Romance, a review site dedicated to bringing you the best in reviews, news, new releases & more in all things LGBTQ Romance. Sinfully Gay Romance can also be found on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram.

1) If you could safely have any animal as a pet what critter companion would you choose?

I’m a cat person so if I could I would have a big cat like a tiger or maybe a jaguar.

2) Rocking dance club or cozy little pub?

I love to dance and have done my share of clubbing, but these days it’s definitely a cozy pub, preferably with some live music and a good beer selection.

3) Sunrises: Get up early or stay up late to see them?

Before I was a mom it would probably have been stay up late, but with my daughter’s school schedule it’s get up early whether I want to or not! If I had a choice though most days I’d be sleeping through it.

4) What is your favorite word?

What does it say about me that my favorite word is a curse word? Since this is a classy blog and I’m a classy lady I’ll default to enigma.

5) This is a Leap Year–how will you commemorate/celebrate Leap Day?

Leap Day will probably be spent trying to catch up on all the things I didn’t do the day before! Maybe I’ll get to sneak in another book – do you have any recommendations? 🙂

Debra started reading gay romance in 2012 and hasn’t stopped since! She has a TBR that can’t possibly be conquered in her lifetime, but that doesn’t stop her from adding new books daily. She couldn’t be happier to be sharing her love of the genre as a member of the Sinfully blog team along with Monique, Mark and Macky.

To know more about Shae Connor, check out her website, shaeconnorwrites.com, or see what she’s up to on Twitter (@shaeconnor). Her latest literary triumph, Nobody’s Son is available here.

1) Are you good with needles (knitting, cross-stitch, embroidery that is).

My first thought was hypodermic needles, and the answer there would be a big no, LOL! I used to do a lot of cross-stitch, but I haven’t picked up a needle in years. I sewed some when I was younger, too, but I’ve never picked up a knitting needle.

2) Christmas Music: before Thanksgiving, only after Thanksgiving, or never at all?

My family has a tradition of listening to Christmas music on November 1, so we can hear it at home before we hear it in stores. Other than that, though, I don’t start listening to it on purpose until after Santa appears at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. That’s my “official” start of the holiday season!

3) Eggnog or mulled wine?

Eggnog, especially in a latte and/or spiked with Buttershots.

4) What is your favorite word?

Recalcitrant. I just love the way it rolls off the tongue. Eclectic is another favorite. 🙂

5) With a limitless budget to spend the winter holidays in any other country, where will you go and what will you do?

Ireland. I’ve always wanted to go, and being there during the holidays would be extra special. I’d hit the usual tourist spots: Dublin, Waterford, Galway, the Ring of Kerry, Blarney Castle—as many as I can fit in. My family traces back to the southwestern part of the country, so I’d want to spend as much time there as possible.

Shae Connor lives in Atlanta, where she’s a lackadaisical government worker for a living and writes sweet-hot romance under the cover of night. She’s been making things up for as long as she can remember, but it took her a long time to figure out that maybe she should try writing them down. Shae is part Jersey, part Irish, and all Southern, which explains why she never shuts up. When she’s not chained to her laptop, she enjoys cooking, traveling, watching baseball, and reading voraciously, and she’s an annual volunteer for the Dragon Con on-site publication, the Daily Dragon. You can email her at shaeconnorwrites@gmail.com.

To know more about Skylar M Cates, find her on Facebook and Twitter. Her latest literary triumph is A Guy’s Thanksgiving, available here.

1) Do you make sure to follow any superstitious practices about anything–just in case?

Just telling my family I love them before we part for the day.

2) Hot mulled cider or cold hard cider?

Hot mulled cider (even though I live in Florida, drinking the hot stuff lets me imagine some cold weather).

3) Tons of fluffy pillows or one flat pillow only?

Fluffy (although my dog might steal them!).

4) What is your favorite word?

This one is too hard for me to select. I used to like decadent and loquacious for their sound. For meaning? Love!

5) If you could live for one day as a famous person from the past, who would you be?

Walt Whitman

Skylar M. Cates loves a good romance. She is quite happy to drink some coffee, curl up with a good book, and not move all day. Most days, however, Skylar is chasing after her husband, her kids, and her giant dog, Wasabi. Skylar dreams about spending her days writing her novels, walking along the beach, and making more time for her good friends. On a shoestring budget, Skylar traveled all over in her early years. Although, lately, the laundry room is the farthest place she has visited, Skylar still loves to chat with people from all around the globe.

To know more about DeAnna C Zankich, follow her blog or see what she’s up to on Pinterest and Facebook. Her most recent literary triumph is Honey in the Rock, the first in her Arabesque series, available here.

1) Is there a song you will always rewind to hear again once it’s played?

I’m a child of the ‘70’s and one song that reminds of happy times as a kid is “Follow You Follow Me” by Genesis. It would be worn out on my iPod if it were possible to do that. And lately, I’ve been obsessing over the theme song for the Starz series ‘Outlander’. The composer, Bear McCreary, rearranged a Celtic folk song into something purely magical. It evokes not only Scotland (which has always called my soul and person), but also the deep wanderlust at the core of all explorers. I play that song to death.

2) Live for a year in the Elizabethan Age or the Gilded Age?

Definitely Elizabethan. The history of the time was exhilarating and I just know I would rock those dresses.

3) Soup or sandwich?

Soup that eats like a sandwich.

4) What is your favorite word?

Detritus. Come on, it’s a great word.

5) Which Greek God fascinates you the most?

Demeter. I’ve played with her traditional description as the goddess of the harvest in my book series. Where the original intent of her worship was about agriculture, I tweak that meaning into referencing the harvest of one’s personal growth. There’s a secret sexual society in my story who are on a mutual path of self-discovery; they use Demeter as their emblem.

DeAnna wrote her first story when she was nine about an evil stray cat who liked to shred laundry. From there, she experimented with acting, singing, journalism and modern dance, but always came back to her first passion–writing. She’s written three novels but the first one will likely be the last published. She’s a TV nerd and a reluctant, fidgety reader, but once a book hooks her, she plows through ravenously. Her literary heroes are Fitzgerald, Hemingway, McInerney, Tartt and King — she loves ghost stories but fears the dark. DeAnna is a long time resident of West Hollywood, California who really wishes she had freckles. She has a BA in Creative Writing/Novel from CSU Long Beach, and studied writing at Cambridge University in the UK. That’s probably where she became such an incurable Anglophile. Arabesque and its cast chose her as their storyteller almost fifteen years ago and the project has been a labor of love ever since.

To know more about Raine O’Tierney, check out raineotierney.com or see what she’s up to on twitter (@Raineotierney). Her latest literary triumph is the TOTALLY FREE Sing Me Your Love Song and is available here.

1) Do you check your horoscope on a regular basis?

I don’t, but I *love* my sign–Pisces. We’re supposedly creative folk! I’d like to believe it’s true. We might just be fishy. (Baddup-pssh!)

2) Transcontinental railroad trip or cruise around the Cape of Good Hope?

Transcontinental railroad trip! One of my most exciting adventures was taking the train for the first time in Japan. I’ve actually never been on a train in the U.S. but as long as I have somewhere to place my Chromebook, I think I would be quite happy riding the rails for days on end.

3) Christmas décor: simple and rustic or decked out to the nines?

Okay, I adore Christmas decorations–I do! But I sometimes feel like they are meant for people who are not quite as, erm, lazy as I am. We have a two foot tree. Fold out branches. It comes with lights attached. And yet there are years I can’t be bothered to get it out of the box and put it on the table.

4) What is your favorite word?

Lionheart.

5) How would you spend one Saturday/overnight/Sunday in Las Vegas?

Researching! Gambling (for research), seeing shows (for research), eating and drinking (for research), talking to the hookers? (For research!) I actually have no idea. I’m really more of a ‘Go to the movies’ than ‘Go to Vegas’ sort of gal. 😉

Raine O’Tierney wants to change the world… one sweet story at a time. Known as “The Queen of the Sweetness” (well, a few people have said it anyway!) Raine loves writing sweet, character-driven stories about first loves, first times, fidelity, forever-endings and… friskiness? In addition to her solo works, she’s one half of a collaborative team with author Debbie McGowan. When she’s not writing, Raine is either playing video games or fighting the good fight for intellectual freedom at her library day job. She believes the best thing we can do in life is be kind to one another, and she enjoys encouraging fellow writers. Contact her if you’re interested in talking about point-and-click adventure games or discussing which dachshunds are the best kinds of dachshunds!

To know more about Ariel Tachna, check out arieltachna.com or see what she’s up to on twitter (@arieltachna). Her latest literary triumphs are Dance Off and Cherish the Land and are available here.

1) If you could claim any one work of art ever made as your own, which would you take home?

Wow, that is a hard question, not the least because of all the different ways one could define a work of art. Is Machu Picchu a work of art? Is the Louvre (by which I mean the building itself, not its contents) a work of art? And then you have the issue of weighing the value of one of my daughter’s paintings against something others would see as a greater work of art but that would have less value for me.

If I had to choose from what would more traditionally be called works of art, I would choose La Dame à la licorne tapestry in the Musée de Cluny in Paris. I have been fascinated by unicorns and collected them in various shapes and materials since I was a child. I made a unicorn tapestry when I was in ninth grade, but it’s nothing compared to the real one!

2) Long-stemmed roses or wildflowers?

Definitely wildflowers. I love roses, and I have several rose bushes in my garden, but there’s something so freeing about the riot of color and shape and fragrance that is a field of wildflowers. Roses are beautiful and elegant, but they’re also controlled. They’re the unattainable beauty of Greta Garbo or Ingrid Bergman, perfectly polished but somehow cold. Wildflowers are a little less perfect, but there are no limits placed upon them.

3) Brownies or blondies?

Brownies. There is no such thing as too much chocolate. I make fudge brownies with chocolate chips in them.

4) What is your favorite word?

According to my beta readers, it’s “just.” Apparently I overuse that a little, although I’m trying to get better about it. I would say frisson is one of my favorite words. It’s that hint of French that adds elegance and mystery to a sensation whose synonyms all either have a negative connotation (shudder) or are less elegant (wallop). It also tickles me that when I look it up in the online Merriam-Webster dictionary, all the rhymes with words are in French. (I might have a bit of a thing for the French language and culture and food and well, all things French.)

5) Tomorrow is July 4th—you have a limitless budget, how will you celebrate?

I’ve always wanted to visit Washington, D.C. on July 4. I remember watching the fireworks over the Washington Monument on TV as a child, particularly the bicentennial. I’d love to see them in person someday.

Ariel Tachna lives outside of Houston with her husband, her daughter and son, and their two dogs. Before moving there, she traveled all over the world, having fallen in love with both France, where she found her husband, and India, where she dreams of retiring someday. She’s bilingual with snippets of four other languages to her credit, and is as in love with languages as she is with writing.

To know more about Mary Calmes, check out her website here or her blog here. Her latest release is Sultry Sunset and is available at Dreamspinner Press.

1) Best Halloween costume as a kid?

I used to watch Emergency! when I was a kid, (which tells you exactly how old I am), and I wanted to be a fireman so bad and live at Station 51 with the guys that I dressed up like a fireman three years in a row.

2) Sweet or unsweet iced tea?

It depends on the restaurant I’m in. If they serve flavored tea, raspberry, mango, peach, then I would probably get that but as a rule, unsweetened is what I chose 9 times out of 10. It’s funny though, now that I live in the South, I’m spoiled with tea as an option. When I was in Orlando for the DSP workshop back in March, I asked for tea at a restaurant and nope, they had none. That’s crazy. I’m so used to my options being sweet or unsweet that I take it for granted.

3) High peak observation deck or cave tour?

Before visiting Mammoth Cave last summer I would have said observation deck but now I’m definitely a cave tour person. Interestingly enough, Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the world and it’s in Kentucky where I live now. It was incredible, we were hundreds of feet underground, with lanterns, and in the fall you can take a boat ride on the underground river. I’m a cave geek now, it’s wild.

4) What is your favorite word?

Splendid. It’s a great word and not used nearly enough.

5) You get to design your dream beach house. Which beach will this house front, and what has to be inside?

My dream beach house would be on the island of Capri on Marina Grande harbor and therefore would be technically more villa than house. I’d need my family, my cats, friends to visit, my computer, all my books, WiFi, NetFlix, wine (red), my Keurig, my electric kettle for tea, and a fabulous interior decorator who would make the whole place look good enough to be in Architectural Digest. Sounds fabulous, I’m ready to go. 🙂

Mary Calmes lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband and two children and loves all the seasons except summer. She graduated from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Due to the fact that it is English lit and not English grammar, do not ask her to point out a clause for you, as it will so not happen. She loves writing, becoming immersed in the process, and falling into her work.

To know more about B.G. Thomas, check out one of his blogs. He’s got one all about his newest projects (or just things on his mind). He’s also got one called 365 Days of Silver in which he is making sure to write at least one thing per day (for a year) he is grateful for or a silver lining he finds on even the worst days. Or you can read his Twitter (@BGThomasBooks). His latest literary triumphs are the Seasons of Love books and are available here. Next week he has a brand new novella coming out! You are going to LOVE it! Find it here.

1) Are there any words you always misspell when you’re writing?

“Mispell” (misspell). No seriously. And “experiance” (experience). I don’t know what the problem is with the word but I can’t get it. And I type “jsut” (just) almost every single time! Arrrrgnhhhhh!

2) After dinner: death by chocolate truffle cake or the cheese board?

After dinner it is chocolate truffle cake. I didn’t even have to think about this one. I just finished my taco dinner and I want chocolate ice cream. It is frozen like stone and I am tapping my foot right now waiting for it to be thawed enough to eat. Food makes me crave a sweet. Now before dinner? The answer would have been a cheese board. No question. With each cheese being sharper than the next. None of that brie or anything like that. Mild cheeses taste like pencil erasers to me. Or thick air. I crave FLAVOR all the time! It’s also my downfall!

3) Bora-Bora cabana or Canadian Rockies cabin?

Oh, Bora-Bora. Something else I didn’t even have to think about. Canadian Rockies might include snow. Snow is a four letter word. My teeth chatter when it drops below 55. Really. When I finally retire it will be to a place where I never ever have to see snow again. People who send me Christmas cards with snow on it might be removed from my “friends list.” LOL. Bora-Bora! Yes. Beaches. Ocean. Swimming. Sand. Lovely huts. Drinkies with umbrellas in them. Served by cabana-boys in teeny tiny, itsy bitsy swim suits. Spreading suntan lotion on me and my husband. We are under this big rainbow umbrella. When I am not in the sun working on my flawless tan. *grin*

4) What is your favorite word?

Gosh. It might be the F-word. It drops out when I don’t even know it (I am ashamed to say). And I like the word “shit.” It means so many things. Some comedian even said something about it in a skit once. It can mean, “This is some good shit.” Or it can be, “Shit!” (as in, “I am upset”). Or it can mean “I just stepped in some shit!” Or, “This is the shit!” (which is a good thing). Or it can mean, “This tastes like shit!” Then there is, “What are you doing with my shit.” Or “Would you get your shit out of the way?” Or “Oh shhhiiiiiiiiit, that was good!” Or “Oh, shit, that was terrible.” Or “Quick! Come look at this awesome shit!” Or “Will you look at that shit?” It is universal.

Or my favorite word might be “Namasté.” Which means “The good and the Divine in me recognizes the good and Divine in you.”

Yeah. I’ve changed my mind. Namasté. That’s my word!

5) If you could go back ten years and give yourself one piece of advice what would be?

Not to wait! Oh God yes! Not to wait to pursue my dreams! To jump! To leap and to know that the net WILL appear. I would have sent in the first submission several years before I did. I have quite a few books out today. I would have maybe twice as many. I would be working as a full-time writer instead of being a year or so from being a full-time writer. And if the question had been twenty years instead of ten, it would be dump that guy and believe in yourself because there is this wonderful man who actually truly is waiting for you to be single. I would be celebrating almost twenty five years today instead of fifteen. I’ll take the fifteen years though and gladly. I am living a MM Romance Novel! He is my heart and my light and my inspiration.What could be better than that?

B.G. loves romance, comedies, fantasy, science fiction and even horror—as far as he is concerned, as long as the stories are character driven and entertaining, it doesn’t matter the genre. He has gone to conventions since he was fourteen years old and has been lucky enough to meet many of his favorite writers. He has made up stories since he was child; it is where he finds his joy. In the nineties, he wrote for gay magazines but stopped because the editors wanted all sex without plot. “The sex is never as important as the characters,” he says. “Who cares what they are doing if we don’t care about them?” Excited about the growing male/male romance market, he began writing again. Gay men are what he knows best, after all. He submitted his first story in years and was thrilled when it was accepted in four days. “Leap, and the net will appear” is his personal philosophy and his message to all. “It is never too late,” he states. “Pursue your dreams. They will come true!”